Road Raced the Cougar!

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Road Raced the Cougar!

January 15, 2006, 03:45:28 PM

Hey all, just wanted to share my thoughts on open tracking my Cougar. Hope you enjoy.:D

http://www.msrhouston.com/

Got about 30 laps (120miles total or so) down in the Cougar and I was carrying a lot of speed all over the place, it was frickin awesome! This was the most fun I have had in years, well worth the $275 buy-in for a group purchase for a day at Motorsport Ranch in Houston TX. Its simply amazing to finally practice things like cutting apexs, following the correct lines, understeer, oversteer, etc...and I didn't spin out, go off the course, or break anything!

The Cougar was absolutely flying through the turns. My older brother in his 2006 Z06 was shocked to see me keeping him at bay in the corners and cutting such tight lines. He could go 55-ish MPH in the tight turns and I could do a little over 45mph...not bad considering the new Z06 is rolling perfection and my Cougar is a rolling joke. :)

I spanked all the other newbies out there, and all of them were in better cars, they all had to let me pass when the straights came up. Coupla guys rode with me after that for advice, I became an instructor (sort of) after 20 mins of track time!

1993-ish 300ZX non turbo, 5-speed
New Pontiac GTO 6-speed
New C6 Coupe, 6-speed
C5 fixed roof coupe, 6-speed

All of those had to get the hell outta my way once the corners came around! At first everyone was looking at the Cougar with a strange face, but after a few laps and after having people waving me by to pass, those strange looks became BIG SMILES. :)

Now I am thinking I need a few more modest modifications, and one crazy one.

Current Setup:

Stock XR-7 suspension rebuild
Stock 5.0HO conversion
KYB GR2 struts, Gas-Adjust shocks
Kenny brown subs, Kenny's 3-pt STB, stock 2pt G-load brace
Stock wheels with BFG summer-only tires
TC rear discs, Mustang front discs
Mark VII front calipers
AOD with shift kit and 2000 stall convertor
rebuilt trac-lok with extra clutches

What I did on the track:

Added an extra quart of oil to prevent starvation in hard cornering
Kept AOD in "D"; car stayed in 2nd at WOT and would exit the corners in 3rd as not to upset balance; 2-3 gear change was fast,made up for my lack of power in the straights
Applied all my apex cutting and line buttstuffysis from the street and games like Grand Tourismo
Braked early and let my speed carry into the corners

What I wanna do now, to help handling and overall balance:

1" Lowering springs at the stock rate or maybe a little firmer
Increase the stock 7/8" rear swaybar to something more substantial

What I wanna do real soon:

Dump the AOD and do a T-56 swap. Yeah, I got money burning a hole in my pocket and I'd love to downshift into 2nd next time I go out there. Only problem is I am going back to school full time now and getting the pedals, driveshaft, etc will be harder.

Thanks for reading. And what's up with my car having a 7/8" rear swaybar from the factory? Its the same one on the Mustangs!!! I guess I should be happy, but this really makes my understeer problem a lot harder to fix!!!:mad:

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #1 – January 15, 2006, 04:01:07 PM

Woot, That made me ancy reading that post!

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #2 – January 15, 2006, 04:10:47 PM

Wow...i had no idea that place was so close to me. I looked it up and it's about a 4 1/2 hour drive for me. Once I get some subs welded in im gonna give that a shot!

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #3 – January 15, 2006, 04:12:54 PM

Quote from: slicksport88

Wow...i had no idea that place was so close to me. I looked it up and it's about a 4 1/2 hour drive for me. Once I get some subs welded in im gonna give that a shot!

Drop me an email and I'll have you added to the list of locals who might be interested in running. There simply is no substitute to being in a large group of people who can rent the track for a day, you get SO MUCH more track time its not even funny.

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #4 – January 15, 2006, 10:44:29 PM

Road track racing is a blast man, I did it in my '88 Mustang LX coupe last year. Had a blast!

Our track here,

is right in my town and costs $250 and hour. I plan to rent the track this spring and invite everyone I know in the area to attend for a day of fun. (The next NRTCN get together maybe?)

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #5 – January 15, 2006, 10:44:48 PM

I'd suggest CC plates and a rear bar first. Those should take out a good bit of the understeer.

The increased camber/caster that the CC plates will give you will help the front grab the road (for various reasons).

Once you get more comfortable out there, your brakes will begin to show their weaknesses.

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #6 – January 15, 2006, 11:59:37 PM

Quote from: JeremyB

I'd suggest CC plates and a rear bar first. Those should take out a good bit of the understeer.

The increased camber/caster that the CC plates will give you will help the front grab the road (for various reasons).

Once you get more comfortable out there, your brakes will begin to show their weaknesses.

Yeah, I was being real easy on the brakes since I recently spent $400 for new pads and rotors. But the performance friction pads really yanked the car down. NO FADE AT ALL, even after 12 miles of 95-55mph braking. I could have demanded more from the brakes but I was cautious...was a good thing, not depending on the brakes really helped me keep my speed in the corners.

What swaybar would everyone recommend? The only option I see is a 1" bar from a variety of companies, and I am waiting to hear back from a couple of vendors if they are hollow or solid.

I'm not a hollow bar fan: I replaced a hollow rear bar on my 95 LSC for a solid one from a 90 SC, both were the same diameter but the SC bar made my LSC feel like a completely different animal. No hollow bars for me!

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #7 – January 16, 2006, 12:12:21 AM

I would get the CC plates on the car and set it up with some more positive caster and a more agressive track alignment set-up first. You may find that you don't want to step up in rear bar size.

You might even consider a larger and a smaller bar as "spares". You can see what set-up makes the car faster or more balanced.

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #8 – January 16, 2006, 12:20:14 PM

I agree with Chuck. Use the camber/caster plates to get your alignment setup in a fashon that will allow you to have a greater contact patch in the turns. That will get rid of a great deal of understeer.

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #9 – January 16, 2006, 09:23:51 PM

I think you guys are right on the CC plates...my tires are getting cupped too. Looks like a good birthday present for myself.

I contacted Hellwig for their rear swaybar, they have a 1" solid rear bar. It's not hollow like the 1" Cobra rear bar. I think that just might be perfect for my combo too.

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #10 – January 17, 2006, 12:09:27 AM

If that Hellwig bar is not adjustable...you might try looking for a take-off from a 94-04 GT or Cobra. There were 24 & 25mm solid bars available on them. The Cobras got the 26-27mm hollow gars which were replaced by the solid 25mm's. They bolt right up.

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #11 – January 17, 2006, 07:06:38 PM

Now I'm gonna sound stupid: what's an adjustable swaybar? All it does is bolt to the lower control arms, right?

I'm leaning to the hellwig bar simply because I know its 1" (25mm) and its solid. I'm having a hard time finding SN-95 swaybars around here, and I don't wanna wind up with the wrong bar because the seller doesn't know what it is.

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #12 – January 17, 2006, 07:15:32 PM

Adjustable means you can adjust the preload on it changing the "effective" size.

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #13 – January 18, 2006, 09:32:04 PM

Oh, that's cool. I'd like one of those...definitely gonna do more research on which bar I want. After I quit my job and go back to that whole "career college student" thing.

Thanks again for your help, Chuck.:)

Road Raced the Cougar!

Reply #14 – January 19, 2006, 03:14:34 AM

Man, that sounded like a blast! We have very close set ups. I would be careful about increasing front roll stiffness with a bigger front bar. You could actually make your understeer problem worse. I have the Turbocoupe monster 1 5/16 bar in front and camber plates with 2.5 degrees negative camber dialed in and I still understeer on corner entry. My next step is to increase rear roll stiffness by adding my Suspension Techniques springs (much stiffer than stock TC springs) and some Koni reds and then maybe an adjustable rear bar like the one from Steeda (http://www.steeda.com/). I don't know if that Steeda bar will work on our cars though. It will if the frame rails are the same distance apart as the Mustang but I've never measured. Also I plan on experimenting with some smaller front bars. I wish I had access to a skid pad!

By the way. I'm up in the DFW area. I wonder how many other Texans there are on this board.